The September Seven

See The January Seven / The February Seven / The March Seven / The April Seven / The May Seven / The June Seven / The July Seven / Skipped August

Super late posting this one, I thought I put it up the first week of the month.

Wellness
1. Magnesium supplement nightly
2. Acupuncture & chiropractor

Community

1. Make quarterly donation to Planned Parenthood
2. Beach trash pick up
3. Attend To the Polls: A Warehouse Mural Exhibition to Encourage Participation in Civic Elections

Try
1. Making bowls at home like the one I get at Bungalow Bowls
2. A leave in conditioner when I'm at the shore
3. Selling barely used Clarisonic Mia 2.

Buy
1. Lola's birthday gift
2. Navy leggings

Do
1. Organize cabinet above toilet in bathroom at home
2. Clean oil stains off of shore driveway
3. Shore apartment porch facelift
4. Read Real Simple, Mother Jones, and Good Housekeeping magazines that have piled up over the past few months

More
Purging

Less
Acquiring 

Happy birthday to my friend Lauren today!

And happy weekend to all y'all. Holding the people affected by the explosions/fires in MA and the people in the path of Flo in my heart today.

The July Seven

See The January Seven / The February Seven / The March Seven / The April Seven / The May Seven / The June Seven

Wellness
1. Get in the ocean - numerous times
2. Salad for lunch twice a week - not one damn time

Community

1. Canvas for MFD July 21 & 22, organize postcard campaign yes, plus 7/29, no on the postcard campaign beyond a list of people who said they'd help (are you one?)
2. Beach trash pick up hell yes, every time I'm there

Try
1. New recipes: one new dip, one new side, one new main dish, one new dessert. New dip: easy Mexican sour cream dip New side: roasted balsamic sweet potatoes new main dish: pineapple teriyaki chicken from Budget Bytes new dessert: strawberry lemonade lasagna
2. Plastic-free July yes! I only fucked up once and forgot my coffee cup to be filled. 

Buy
1. New shower caddy Got this one and it suits our needs perfectly with two soap dishes and best of all is not totally rusted out like the previous one.

Do
1. Clear out front room in basement This is not a one time thing. I made a large dent in it.
2. Purge dresses, t-shirts, nail polish, makeup, health and beauty Hell yes I did all of these
3. Populate first half of 2018 photo book for shore yes, I did it through July
Needs to be done eventually but is clearly not getting done so need a break from it being a numbered item: 
Blog recommendations tab / shore house blog HELLO I HALF DID THE BLOG TAB AND IT'S LIVE

More
Reusable items - Only had one coffee not in a reusable cup. That is a huge waste cut for me. I am an idiot for not doing this all along. 

Less
Single-use plastic - Only had one coffee not in a reusable cup. That is a huge waste cut for me. I am an idiot for not doing this all along. 

The June Seven

See The January Seven / The February Seven / The March Seven / The April Seven / The May Seven

Wellness
1. Reduce clutter no
2. No two days in a row of ice cream at the shore yes!
3. More salads nope, but more raw veggies and fruit overall

Community

1. Call Ocean City about trash from pipe yes
2. Beach trash pick up yes

Try
1. New recipes: broccoli cauliflower salad, frozen yogurt, no and no, second month in a row on both
2. Going to bed earlier yes

Buy
1. Only necessities aside from my coffee - yes, until I bought the instant pot on sale (already returned), and Amber Tamblyn's book

Do
1. Purge dresses and t-shirts nope
2. Continue gathering updated shore house menus yes
3. Vacuum car nope
Needs to be done eventually but is clearly not getting done so need a break from it being a numbered item: 
Blog recommendations tab / shore house blog

More
Continuing to cook from freezer/pantry yes

Less
Cooking at whim until that's finished yes

Happy happy birthday to Kim today! Can't wait to see you this weekend. And happy happy birthday to Jana today! Hope to see you soon. 

The May Seven

See The January Seven / The February Seven / The March Seven / The April Seven

Wellness
1. Reduce clutter - yes, but ongoing
2. Boardwalk bike ride every time I’m at the shore until Memorial Day - yes
3. Delete facebook app from phone - yes

Community

1. Pick up litter - yes
2. Talk about voting with people - why it’s important even in primaries of off-year elections. Voting is a habit that is good for you and your community. Twice a year, just like dental visits. - yes

Try
1. New recipes: broccoli cauliflower salad, egg roll in a bowl, crispy crockpot carnitas, frozen yogurt - no, yes, yes, no
2. Getting oven fixed - yes, there's actually another bigger problem, joy
3. Selling larger items I am not using - yes

Buy
1. Round mirror for shore bedroom - yes
2. Hooks for shore house - yes

3. Annuals - yes

Do
1. Refill gallons of water.  Help!! Does anyone have a gallon container - sealed, no spigot - they transport liquids in that is not plastic? Actually got a water cooler. 
2. Update shore house menus / house info / etc - yes
3. Refrain from using any disposable cutlery - fail, used one day at lunch
Needs to be done eventually but is clearly not getting done so need a break from it being a numbered item: 
Blog recommendations tab / shore house blog

More
Buying what I will use each week from the grocery store - about half and half

Less
Stocking up for no reason - about half and half

The April Seven

See The January Seven / The February Seven / The March Seven

Wellness
1. Walk at least 10 minutes every day at lunch - yes, mostly more
2. Chiro, acupuncture, massage - yes, yes, no
3. Peace the fuck out on weekends - mostly

Community

1. Raise money for March of Dimes for Team Eva the Diva - please consider donating! - yes! Thank you!
2. Captain the clean up on our beach on April 21 - yes

Try
1. New recipes: cheeseburger casserole skillet, english muffin toasting bread, broccoli cauliflower salad - yes, yes, no
2. Soma Cafe in OC - no
3. Shower cleaner - as in the new shower cleaning apparatus I got a year ago and never tried, not making a shower cleaner. I already make a daily shower spray. - yes

Buy
1. Beach tags for the season - yes
2. Dresser and mirror for one room at the shore - I actually ended up painting that dresser and replacing that mirror but had to replace a dresser in another room and I am still out of a mirror for that.
3. New harnesses for the dogs - yes

Do
1. Paint shore house closet, dresser, porch trim near awnings, regular trim work - yes, yes, yes, no
2. Finally do the MFing recommendations tab - newp
3. Work on shore house blog - newp

More
Off the cuff blog posts - yes

Less
Planned blog posts - yes

The March Seven

See The January Seven / The February Seven

Wellness
1. Continue with the 40 min of exercise a day for the 40 days of Lent - check
2. Get back to a good water intake - I haven't been good the past two weeks and you can see it on my face - better but still not to the level I am usually at
3. Stop driving myself crazy with what if scenarios. I normally excel at not borrowing worry but when a big life change happens I have to work hard to get control of that again. This campaign life is a big change and I need to find my balance. better but not back to myself

Community

1. Get comfort pack items to Mike for distribution in Kensington Nope
2. Donate to Higher Heights and She Should Run for Women's History Month Yes
3. Figure out the local food connection for my neighborhood and set up a drop off point Attempted to organize, not enough interest

Try
1. Pretty Bird Coffee in Yardley nope
2. Bell's Market nope
3. New bread nope

Buy
1. Birthday shoes - it's my annual gift to myself to purge and add to my shoe collection No luck, still looking
2. A thirty-one bin for the shore for guests to use to tote beach stuff - benefits Team Eva the Diva for the March of Dimes. Please check it out if you're in need of any 31 stuff, the cause is near to my heart. Yes
3. A rose gold eyeshadow from LipSense - Also a Team Eva the Diva benefit with proceeds going to the March of Dimes team. Anyone can join/buy from the party! I got two eyeshadows from the benefit and a rose gold from Jill (but didn't order that one until 4/3)


Do
1. Paint shore house closet scheduled for 4/8
2. Transition planner and self organization system to an electronic/paper hybrid Yes
3. Set up recommendations tab on blog - never got to that in February No

More
No check

Less
Yes check

This weekend will be spent finishing up petitions for MFD's campaign, trying to stay dry, I'm sure cleaning up dog pee and poop inside since they will refuse to go out in the rain, and making a birthday month to do list.

Whatever you do, I hope it's exactly what you need. 

The February Seven

See The January Seven here.

Wellness - this is mind/body/spirit so some things on here in coming months may seem weird to you and if that's the case then it is something for my spirit lol
1. Chiro, massage, acupuncture. Check, check, checkx2)

2. Light arm weights 2x/week. Fail. 
3. If it's not raining or snowing, 30 minute lunch walk M-F for American Heart Month. 40 minutes as it's the 40/40. 
4. Cornell West at the library. I so did not want to go, but I went, and it was awesome. 

Community - my neighborhood, my people, the world around me, causes I support, etc.
1. Food pantry donation - I made a monetary donation to Holy Redeemer Food Pantry since I am working through my pantry and only have weird stuff left. 
2. Monetary donation to Higher Heights, an organization harnessing black women's collective political power for Black History Month - I am pushing this to next month since I just donated to them in December. Instead I made a donation to the Real Justice PAC - a one time and a smaller monthly. Check it out. They are working to elect prosecutors who will fix our broken criminal justice system. 
3. Hand out comfort packs at Suburban Station. I didn't take them to Suburban but gave them to two guys who are handing them out down in Kensington. 

Try
1. Making a new bread - hell yes I did! 
2. Clearing out pantry/fridge/freezers - still doing this. I have not bought stuff for an out of the blue meal. I am continually using what I have. 
3. A new restaurant - Parx Grill 

Buy
1. At least one dresser for the shore if I can find it at the thrift store - didn't find any
2. Shore mirrors if I come across good ones - didn't find any
3. No clothes/shoes/books/home decor/products unless one runs out and I have no replacement. Mostly pass. I ended up buying two frames for $12 and prints to swap out photos for $22. That wall update stuff has been hanging over my head since December. I also bought a T-shirt and bumper stickers from Everytown in the wake of the Parkland shooting. I feel okay about the spends. 

Do
1. Change out wall decor Done by the skin of my teeth on 2/28
2. Purge baskets around the house I have one left to do in the bedroom
3. Position things to go back to the shore next month Check
4. Once a month photo Check. 
5. Set up recommendations tab on blog, thanks to Steph for the idea Nope - you'll see this next month

More
Purging - check. 

Less
Acquiring - check. 

The Eagles are in the Super Bowl this weekend and the entire city is in green today. If you are going out Sunday no matter where you are, do not drink and drive. Call a friend or your family or UBER or LYFT or a cab for a ride or stay where you are. Have fun but don't put yourself or others in danger. 

Peace. 

The January Seven

Like Jane Eyre, I can tire of the routine of eight years in one afternoon.

I don't believe in doing something I've always done simply because I've always done it. If something stops working, I stop doing it or change how I'm doing it. Habits are good until you forget why you started doing it in the first place.

I used to make yearly goals. When that stopped fitting, I went to monthly goals. When that stopped fitting, I made quarterly goals. When that stopped fitting, I dropped the goals. That has stopped fitting, so I'm back to monthly goals with parameters for 2018. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted the parameters to be this year. I cane up with two areas of focus and five directives.

Here are January's. Obviously I'm not limited to these things, but these are the things I am focusing on with intention this month. I'll post my seven in the beginning of the month then go back and update that same post after the month is over for personal tracking purposes. I'm not posting this shit for people to read in two separate posts, that's boring as fuck. I'll link back to the original post in a Thursday Thoughts if anyone cares how I did.

Wellness - this is mind/body/spirit so some things on here in coming months may seem weird to you and if that's the case then it is something for my spirit lol
1. Chiro 1/16

2. Squats every time I go to the bathroom I did this for half the month then stopped. 
3. 100 ounces of water/day Yes! And I feel one zillion times better. 
4. Walk Bruce Weather permitting, yes
5. Morning & evening skin care like an adult instead of a dirty child person 100% in the morning, better in the evening than I was previously, so a cautious win

Community - not just my neighborhood, but the world around me, causes I support, etc. This header was involvement for a long time, and then it was improvement, but the goal of anything I involve myself in is to improve my community so I settled on community. Sometimes this will be close and personal and sometimes it won't be. 
1. Donate to Juntos 1/15
2. Attend meeting to oppose ICE raids 1/22
3. Women's March in Philly & rally in Doylestown 1/20 and 1/21
4. Meet the Candidate John Fetterman Event 1/27
5. Comfort packs for homeless in Suburban Station twice this month only did this once on 1/23, handed out 10 packs and 10 DD gift cards.  

Try
1. Making a new bread Yes! So easy, please try it. Link in this post
2. Camp Bow Wow for Bruce He passed his interview and has been two other times. He goes again today. He hates going through the gate but loves it when he's there. 

Buy
1. A new coat - I actually got two on sale for the price of one. Thanks Nordstrom rack. 
2. Electrical work for the shore Done Monday 1/29! I can't wait to see it. 
3. Jim Breuer tickets Yes! Frank and Amanda did too, and Stephen and Aubrey and friends will be there also

Do
1. Purge baskets around the house Not even close
2. Update entertainment center decor Done
3. Once a month photos Done!

More
Logging on for a purpose A few times I was just scrolling and reminded myself to get off/limit time. Overall I was much better at this. 

Less
Mindless scrolling A few times I was just scrolling and reminded myself to get off/limit time. Overall I was much better at this.